Giving Her Another Chance
by Misadventurous
Summary: When Hermione, Harry and Ron are captured and brought to Malfoy Manner Draco helps them all to get away. Unfortunately Hermione was unable to leave with her friends and has to stay at Malfoy Manner if she wants to help with the war effort. What happens between Draco and Hermione was never her plan.
1. Chapter 1

'There's something there,' he whispered, 'it could be the scar, stretched tight … Draco, come here, look properly! What do you think?'

Draco came closer to the boy on his knees. Although his face was in bad shape, there was no doubt in Draco's mind that it was, in fact, Harry Potter. He also recognised Weasley and Granger being tied up behind Potter.

As Lucius Malfoy drawled about the two bound prisoners being Potter's "little friends", Draco decided completely that no matter what was promised to him or his family he was not about to give up probably the only shot there was of destroying Voldemort once and for all.

'No, it's not them,' Draco answered the question on the present Death Eaters' lips. He turned his back on the captives and stiffly walked back over to the fireplace where his mother stood.

Before he had turned around though, he heard his Aunt Bella screech. 'Where did you get that? That was in my vault! It's _my _sword! How did you get it you filthy thieving little –' She was cut short as the man tried to explain himself over her ever-rising voice.

'It was in the girl's bag for Merlin's sake!' He shouted for the fourth time.

Bellatrix looked taken aback for almost an entire second, and then she whirled around to face the sword thief. She ordered the two boys be taken down to the cellar which was serving as a dungeon. Draco led the way and was the one to lock the door. When he returned Hermione, still unknown to the rest of those present, was sprawled on the floor with Bellatrix on top of her. Blood streaked her arm and her screams were unbearable. He couldn't look.

All of a sudden the screams stopped to be replaced with mumbling and Draco turned back around to see who had spoken. It was that snivelling fool Petigrew. He was wailing about the prisoners all having escaped somehow. His mother warned him to stay in the room with the girl and two other guards.

When there was only four people left in the room Draco ran to Hermione and told her to run through a door which he pointed at and to lock herself in the very last door on the left. He mentioned that he'd explain everything soon and that she should make as little noise as possible.

When she had bolted out of the room the guards nodded towards Draco. They were on his side. Now all that was left to do was feign innocence; that was the fun part.

When Greyback, Lucius, Narcissa, Bellatrix and the other raiders had come grumbling back up the stairs they found both guards and Draco seemingly unconscious. They were brought to sitting positions and slowly pretended to wake up.

Draco was the first and he told the questioning audience that he remembered nothing of the night, nothing at all. Both of the guards followed suit. Narcissa looked worried and Lucius looked furious. He pointed his borrowed wand at his only child. '_Crucio,' _he whispered lividly.


	2. Chapter 2

**I know the first chapter was quite short but they'll start to get longer as I get more involved in the story. 3**

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Draco sat leaning against a pillar in the drawing room, recovering from the Cruiatus Curse. That curse had been a massive part of his life so far; anything he ever did out of place was rewarded with excruciating pain and no forgiveness whatsoever.

The two guards had both been killed by his father and had since been removed from the room. Draco stood uneasily, still using the pillar for support by leaning his shoulder against it. The Malfoy Manor's guests had all moved to the dining room, where they would enjoy a particularly appetising meal in comparison to the starving middle class of the Wizarding World. These were only some of the joys of having a bank of overflowing money.

As he told himself to stop being so delicate, Draco pushed off of the pillar and walked toward the door he had earlier sent Granger through. After the long walk through the corridor he finally reached the last door on the left, the one he had told her to hide in.

He slowly pushed the door opened and was rewarded with a blow to the face. He blinked and snatched the photo frame from Hermione Granger's hand. He entered the room and pulled the door shut. Lumos Maxima had already been cast by the witch and they were both glaring at each other in the bright blue light.

Draco turned to the door and cast a number of spells including a silencing one. Calmly turning back around to face Granger, he smirked at her; he liked to smirk and old habits die hard. 'Would you like to hit me again, or would you kindly allow me to explain to you what is going on?' He tried his best to keep any cruelness out of his voice, but his nose was bleeding and it hurt quite a lot thanks to her.

Hermione glared at him, clearly trying to discern for herself what was going on. She finally gave up and nodded at him. He gestured towards two armchairs in front of the unlit fire and Hermione took a place in one, sitting on the very edge with rigid muscles.

Draco observed her and noted her lack of trust, why should she trust him anyway? After the way he'd treated her all those years and the fact that in her mind he was on the bad side. He sat down in the seat diagonal to Granger's and looked at her. 'Where are Harry and Ron?' she dared. Her gaze was piercing and he had to give her some props for having such determination in a place so far out of her comfort zone.

He decided to answer her question, 'I gave them instructions to apparate out of the cellar to some place far away after taking down the charms around the walls. They refused to tell me where they were going and so you are now lost which I am, for the record, sorry about. The plan was to get you all into the cellar and have you all leave together but of course things never go the way I plan.'

Hermione scoffed, she'd never heard of something so scoffable. Draco Malfoy having a plan that didn't work out. HA!

He glared at her. 'Take some time to think about it Granger, and you might actually find that you know very little of or about me.' The intensity with which he spoke wiped the proud smirk right off her face. 'You don't know me either Malfoy! Stop acting like such a spoilt prat and let me leave.'

'I'm not stopping you from going, I'm trying to keep you safe!'

'Safe! I'm a muggle born in a pureblood, deatheater house! This is not safe!'

'It's safer for you than you could possibly imagine.'

'And what about helping out? I'm not going to be like you and sit around in my mansion watching as the war approaches, I'm going to stand up and fight! I'm going to – to … Help them. I'll be useful.' Her voice got quieter and quieter. She was not at all sure why she was saying this to Draco Malfoy. He wouldn't understand hard work, he had money and a family name that could practically get him a kingdom.

Draco looked at the girl sitting in front of him. He wanted so much for her to trust him, to notice that he wasn't a bad person. But here she was, being her usual know-it-all self and he couldn't have been more upset by this; he thought she was smarter than to judge.

'My father no longer comes to the South Wing, so I'll take you there. It's quite large and you can do as you like. It's also my part of the house, which means I have my bedroom and study there. Don't disturb me. When you feel like helping out with the war effort my way you can tell me and I'll give you something to do. Until then, keep your mouth shut and stay out of sight.'

He got up and when she made no move to follow his lead he grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her along indignantly. They walked for almost 10 minutes before finally reaching the end of a corridor and entering the South Wing. Draco led her to a room with an attached bathroom. He apologised for their rooms being right next to each other but gave no explanation as to why the two rooms were so close when everything else was so spread out. He handed her the small beaded bag that he had picked up off the floor in the drawing room and asked if she needed anything. The answer was no.

Since it was the middle of the night he retired to his own bedroom where he changed into boxer shorts and flung himself exhaustedly onto his double bed. He let out a sigh of relief, and begun his routine of attempted sleep. Hours passed before his eyelids were heavy enough for him to drift away and less hours passed before they fluttered open again. His first day with house buddy Granger was about to begin.

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**The next chapter should be up within 48 hours. Hermione's POV next. Thanks for reading guys. **


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